Pret to trial bottle recycling scheme in Brighton

Brighton has been chosen by sandwich shop Pret as the place to trial a plastic bottle return scheme next month.

Pret will hand customers 10p for each Pret-branded bottle handed into its three Brighton stores at Brighton Station, 42 East Street and 77 North Street.

Clive Schlee, Pret’s CEO, said: “The idea is that we would add 10p to all plastic bottles and return 10p for each Pret bottle given back to our teams to recycle. The aim is to understand how many bottles are returned and to see if it encourages more customers to opt for a reusable bottle. We will of course reinvest any unclaimed deposits in future sustainability work.

“It will take time to eliminate unnecessary plastic, but I hope this sort of initiative will bring that day forward by drawing attention to the issue and stimulating new ideas. We’d like to trial a deposit scheme this April in Brighton.

"We’ve chosen Brighton because we have three busy shops there and we know the local people are highly attuned to the environment. If it is successful we could extend the scheme across the country during the autumn of 2018.”